Egalitarian reading of the story of Joseph
A funny thing happened to my brain yesterday afternoon. We were, as usual, listening to a George Grant antiquities lecture (not, as usual, on Tuesday, but on Wednesday). George was offering a quick overview of Israel's history and a little idea sped through my consciousness (he speaks fast and gives lots of information). What he said was that Joseph was faithful in Potiphar's house and that when there was that disreputable interchange between Mrs P and Joseph that Mr P (knowing his wife) moved Joseph from the home to the workplace. First of all my brain said (no!) in a "what on earth is he going to come up with next...." kind of way (so very many of the things which have taken root and transformed me over the years have entered this way!). The implication being that Joseph was not found guilty and clapped in irons (as I have always thought and taught my children) but that he was given a new sphere of work. This idea stayed between the front and back of my head for the rest of the day and when I went to bed I turned up Genesis 39. I found (v 1) Joseph was bought by "the captain of the guard". I read further (v20) "Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined." This is where my pre-loaded egalitarianism has prevented me from seeing straight. This was a prison especially for the top-men, not the beggars and common theives. This is why Joseph was in their serving. I always told my children (did I read this in Hoeksema?) that Joseph was a good boy for so long that he gained the trust of the warders and was given something useful to do - that was why he was looking after the cup-bearer and the baker. Then chapter 41 v 10 "Pharoah was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the ouse of the captain of the guard". v 12" Now a young Hebrew was there with us, A SERVANT OF THE CAPTIAN OF THE GUARD" WOW! Looks like Grant was right after all. i have been blind. I wonder how many other such-like illuminations there are in store for me. How amazing God is to have recorded this story and for someone like me to have read it lots of times and even taught it in detail at least 5 times and to have MISSED this point! Joseph was still in a position of responsibilty - he had been all along. He was functioning as a faithful servant from the time Potiphar bought him. He was not clapped in irons on the say-so of a dissatisfied Egyptian wife - he was just moved to a place of safety. Of course we don't like the idea of slavery - nor of waiting on people who are more important than ourselves, but here it is and Joseph was an honourable man, favoured by God, all the time he was in the service of Potiphar and then in the service of Pharoah.
the only verse which troubles me (I must get out Strongs' concordance and see what the hebrew word means) is Ch. 40 v 15 where Joseph said 'I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon." I shall continue to pontificate on this one - perhaps it is not inconsistent.